Jun 18, 2021 · 1h 27m · allin
E36: New FTC Chair, breaking up big tech, government silent spying, Jon Stewart, wildfires & more
Jason Calacanis · 23m spoken David Friedberg · 21m spoken David Sacks · 18m spoken Chamath Palihapitiya · 15m spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In Episode 36 of the All-In Podcast, hosts Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, and David Friedberg analyze major political and regulatory issues, including Lina Khan's FTC appointment, government surveillance subpoenas, Big Tech censorship, California wildfires, and post-pandemic executive powers.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The hosts hold 99.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
The hosts as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 1.9 Guest disagreement 3.3 The hosts pushing back 2.9
speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:19:21 Chamath slams progressive environmental inaction
Chamath forcefully criticizes progressive politicians for ignoring practical solutions like controlled burns despite the heavy impact of wildfire smoke on minority communities.
Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 42:30 Jason challenges Obama-Trump DOJ comparisonsJason firmly interrupts Sacks to argue that investigating a sitting White House Counsel under espionage scrutiny differs fundamentally from historical press leak subpoenas.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 1:10:30 Friedberg delivers California carbon math lessonFriedberg educates the panel on forest carbon dynamics, showing that California wildfires released 1.5 times more carbon than all motor vehicles in the state combined.
The host holds their own ▶ 10:47 Chamath details FTCA enforcement strategiesChamath demonstrates extensive regulatory expertise by breaking down the Sherman, Clayton, and FTC Acts to show how tech monopolies use product subsidies to eliminate competition.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The hosts as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The hosts pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Show Banter and LP Meeting Jokes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | The co-hosts engage in lighthearted pre-show banter about podcast monologue statistics and travel plans without any intellectual conflict or schooling. | |
| Lina Khan Appointed FTC Chair and Big Tech Antitrust | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Chamath details the statutory pillars of antitrust law while Sacks draws on PayPal's history to explain common carrier regulations and platform gatekeeping. | |
| Government Data Subpoenas, Apple Gag Orders, and Civil Liberties | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | Sacks argues that DOJ gag orders represent a structural civil liberties threat, prompting pushback from Jason on the partisan differences in target selection. | |
| COVID-19 Mandates, Presidio Rules, and Emergency Powers | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Friedberg highlights irrational mask mandates in office parks while Sacks criticizes state emergency power extensions as funding grabs. | |
| Jon Stewart's Colbert Appearance and Tech Censorship | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | The co-hosts examine Jon Stewart's Colbert appearance to criticize tech platforms for censoring legitimate lab-leak hypothesis discussions. | |
| Scientific Process, Political Polarization, and Identity Politics | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Friedberg articulates how partisan identity politics degrades objective scientific inquiry by flattening complex issues into binary red-vs-blue frameworks. | |
| California Wildfires, Forest Management, and Climate Change | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | Friedberg educates the group with detailed stats on California snowpack and forest carbon math, while Chamath criticizes political inaction on controlled burns. | |
| Summer Escape Plans and Tech Migration from California | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | The hosts wrap up the show sharing personal summer travel plans and joking about past career advice and relocation decisions. |
Statements from this episode (17)
Sacks: Lina Khan's FTC confirmation will hyper-politicize Big Tech regulation
“And I think what we're in for over the next few years is potentially a hyper politic politicization Of big tech markets. I think these 21 Republicans might soon feel like the dog who caught the bumper in the sense that, yes, they're finally going to have the r…”
Chamath: New climate change investment required an HSR regulatory clearance filing
“When you make big investments, for example, you know, I just made a climate change thing, we had to file HSR.”
Chamath: Google and Facebook CPMs rose 28% to 30% in Q1 2021
“For the first time in the last quarter, both of these two companies, and they were the only two of big tech that announced an increase in pricing, right? They saw a diminishing of CPM inventory. And so they had to figure out ways to grow inventory as users sta…”
Sacks: Left and right will agree to regulate Big Tech as common carriers
“And so I think there is, I think the left and the right here can cut a deal where they regulate these guys, these big tech companies as common carriers. I think that is what we're headed towards.”
Chamath: Breaking up Big Tech is unanimously good for startups and consumers
“Unanimously good for startups in any scenario in which they get involved. And I think in most cases in which the government gets involved, it's good for consumers as well.”
Chamath: Top AI specialists earn $5M to $10M annually at big tech firms
“Now, those numbers are actually much higher. You know, if you're if you're a specific AI person, you can get paid five, ten million dollars a year.”
Sacks: Threat of antitrust enforcement is necessary to preserve innovation
“They will become gatekeepers. And so you have to have the threat of antitrust action hanging over their heads, or you will stifle innovation.”
Friedberg: Abandoning price-based antitrust metrics for subjective consumer predictions is dangerous
“And so it is a very dangerous and kind of slippery slope to end up in this world, where the judgment of some regulator about what's best for consumers long term, versus the cold hard facts. Oh, prices went up prices didn't, you know, but really saying, Well, t…”
Sacks: Obama DOJ subpoenaed two months of AP reporter records in 2013
“Back in 2013, the Obama administration did something similar. It's quite extraordinary. They subpoenaed the records of the AP. They, for, they, for two months, they got the records of reporters And five branches of the AP and all their mobile records, and they…”
Sacks: Government subpoenas to tech companies must notify targets
“When you investigate somebody, when you subpoena records for a big tech company, you have to notify them. You should not be able to do that secretly.”
Sacks: Big Tech receives ~400 subpoenas weekly and opposes only 4%
“Just to put some numbers on this, Big Tech is getting something like 400 subpoenas a week. For people's records. They only oppose four percent of them.”
Sacks: Newsom extending COVID emergency powers secures federal funds for recall election
“Federal funds, emergency funds from the federal government keep flowing to the state as long as we have a state of emergency. And so the longer he keeps this thing going, the more money he gets from the federal government that he can then use in this recall ye…”
Calacanis: YouTube took down Bret Weinstein's podcast over ivermectin discussion
“YouTube, which kicked off a ton of people on the platform for talking about things that were not approved by the WHO, has taken Professor Brett Weinstein's podcast down because he had a very reasonable discussion about ivermectin and its efficacy or lack of ef…”
Sacks: Jon Stewart's lab leak comments would have been censored on YouTube six months ago
“The things he was saying about the lab leak would not have been allowed on YouTube six months ago.”
Friedberg: California snowpack hit an unprecedented zero percent of normal by June
“So as of June first, The California snowpack is down to zero percent of normal. That's never happened before. So it's the lowest it's ever been.”
Friedberg: 2020 California wildfires emitted 1.5x more carbon than state vehicles
“Last year based on the forests that burnt in California we released about one and a half times as much carbon into the atmosphere from our forest fires as we did from cars Is burning fossil fuels in the state.”
Chamath predicts severe 2021 Western US fire season and electrical brownouts
“We are going to have a terrible, we're going to have a terrible fire season. There's going to be brownouts probably throughout a lot of the Western states. What played out in Texas that affected folks a few months ago, I think will some version of that will ha…”